The fire that broke out in a Penn State Erie, Behrend College dining hall late Monday night didn't result in any injuries, but it did leave the administration scrambling for a replacement building.
The fire began sometime between 11:30 p.m. Monday and midnight Tuesday in the gazebo at the west end of Dobbins Dining Hall, Penn State Police at Behrend said.
No injuries were reported, and no one was believed to have been in the closed building when the fire started, said Bill Gonda, director of marketing and communications at Penn State Erie.
The Brookside Fire Department in Erie was the first unit to arrive on the scene, but the Pennsylvania State Police fire marshal will assess the damage and determine the cause of the fire, Gonda said.
Firefighters were able to extinguish the flames quickly, but the gazebo was destroyed and much of the building suffered major water and smoke damage, Gonda said. The dining hall is currently unusable until further notice.
A makeshift dining hall has been set up in a commons area at Penn State Behrend, and other options will be assessed over spring break, Gonda said.
Students were notified of the fire through e-mail and PSUTXT. And whether they were watching firefighters extinguish the blaze or sleeping through it, they commended the administration for its quick action.
Andy Iams said he was in the engineering lab when he heard what was going on. As soon as he stepped outside, he saw a huge plume of smoke in the sky and Dobbins Hall engulfed in flames.
"It was a sad sight," Iams (senior-mechanical engineering) said. "It really shocked a lot of the students on campus."
But in the aftermath, Iams said he was impressed with how quickly the administration pulled together a substitute for the main dining hall.
"We're not going hungry up here," he said.
Molly Thomas said she didn't find out about the fire until this morning -- she slept right through it. However, she spent a lot of time Tuesday in the student union-turned-dining hall, helping out the director of student affairs.
"It's been a crazy day," she said, "But the administration has done amazing. They have really taken care of the students an incredible amount."
When news of the fire reached University Park, the Council of Commonwealth Student Governments (CCSG) made sure to reach out to its constituents. CCSG Governmental Affairs Director DJ Ryan said he was in contact with some members of Penn State Behrend's student government, offering to lend any help they may need.
There were some interesting challenges, Iams said, but he believes they were dealt with in the best possible manner. He was one of several students who helped firefighters dig fire hydrants out of the foot of snow still on the ground.
"I think that anytime something like this happens in a close environment like a university, people tend to come together," he said.
